Chapter 2: Breaking free

Evelyn POV

As I floated in the water, surrounded by the mocking laughter of wealthy socialites, gripping the engagement ring so tight the diamond bit into my palm, it all came rushing back—not just how I died, but how I ended up dying in the first place.

This night. This exact night.

In my previous life, Adrian had believed I'd manipulated his mother into arranging this engagement party early, that I was scheming to trap him into marriage. The truth was that Margaret Whitmore had organised everything without consulting me, desperate to secure what she saw as a suitable daughter-in-law.

But Adrian didn’t care about the truth. He despised me even more deeply because of it.

I remembered how he’d stood at the edge of this very pool, his handsome face twisted with cruel amusement as he held out engagement rings between his fingers, dangling them over the pool like bait. The sneer curled his perfect lips as five hundred guests watched in delighted silence.

“If you can jump in and retrieve the rings,” he’d sneered, loud enough for every guest to hear, before tossing both rings into the water. “I’ll marry you.

And I—stupid, desperate, drowning-in-love Evelyn—had believed him. I couldn't swim. I knew I couldn't swim. But Adrian had said the word "marry," and that was all it took. I'd kicked off my heels and jumped into the deep end in a formal gown without a second thought, thrashing through the water until my lungs screamed, searching the bottom of the pool with burning eyes until I found both rings.

When I'd finally climbed out clutching both rings, soaking wet, mascara ruined, dress clinging to my body, everyone had laughed—Adrian's friends, his family, the socialites, the investors, and even the staff. Five hundred people watching, and not one had offered me a towel.

Adrian hadn't even looked at me.

And then, as if my humiliation wasn't enough, the news arrived: Isabella had heard about the engagement and was threatening to jump off a building. Adrian left immediately without a single glance back at me, his dripping, shivering fiancée standing in a puddle of chlorinated water.

I became the laughingstock of the entire city that night. And what did I do? I swallowed it. I told myself it was worth it. I spent three more years crawling after a man who despised me, only to end up strangled to death in a warehouse while he kissed another woman under fireworks.

I looked down at the ring in my hand—Adrian's ring, the one I'd just fished from the bottom of the pool and smiled bitterly.

Is this really what you want, Evelyn?

No.

Not anymore. Not ever again.

Heaven had given me a second chance, and I refused to waste it on a man who wouldn't waste a dollar on me. In this life, I would be myself. I would take back everything that was mine. And I would make every single person who destroyed me pay the price.

Starting now.

I swam to the edge of the pool and pulled myself out.

Water cascaded off my dress, pooling on the marble tiles beneath my feet. My hair hung in dark, wet ropes around my face. I could feel every eye on me—the curious, the mocking, the entertained.

"Impressive," someone called out from the crowd, voice dripping with sarcasm. "She actually found it. So obedient, jumps when she's told to jump. Are you going to run to Adrian now and claim your reward?"

Laughter rippled through the group.

"Exactly," another woman chimed in, swirling her champagne. "Now that you have the ring, Adrian has to marry you, right? Congratulations."

"I've never seen anything so desperate. Does she have no shame?"

More laughter. Louder this time.

In my previous life, I would have kept my head down. I would have clutched the rings to my chest and hurried away, grateful for the scraps. I would have told myself that their mockery didn't matter, that Adrian's love was worth any price.

But I wasn't that Evelyn anymore, that Evelyn died on a warehouse floor.

I lowered my head and smiled, then looked up and faced them all.

"Yes, I jumped," I said, my voice carrying across the poolside. "And I found it. So, did you all enjoy the show?"

The jeers cut off mid-sentence.

"Every single one of you standing here is supposed to be a respectable figure," I continued, letting my gaze sweep across their faces. "CEOs. Heiresses. Philanthropists. And here you are, champagne in hand, watching a woman's humiliation for entertainment." I paused. "Do you still feel proud of yourselves?"

More silence followed.

Some smiles froze. Others dropped entirely. A few guests exchanged uneasy glances, suddenly finding their champagne flutes very interesting. This wasn’t the Evelyn Bennett they knew.

That's right. In my previous life, I'd been docile, soft-spoken, eager to please, desperate to leave a good impression on Adrian's circle—the perfect doormat.

Now? I wanted to show my claws.

I didn't wait for anyone to respond. I turned and walked away, dragging my soaking wet dress across the marble without looking back. Water trailed behind me like a bridal train.

Behind me, the whispers started almost immediately.

"What temper is a substitute throwing?"

"She'll come crawling back to Adrian by the end of the night. Mark my words."

I didn't slow down. They would learn how wrong they were soon enough.

The banquet hall was a different world from the poolside. Golden chandeliers cast warm light over hundreds of guests in designer suits and silk gowns. Servers glided between clusters of people with silver trays. The air smelled like expensive perfume and old money.

And at the centre of it all stood Adrian Whitmore.

He was impossible to miss. At six foot two, wearing a perfectly tailored black suit that emphasised his broad shoulders and lean frame, he stood a full head above the circle of admirers surrounding him. His dark hair was styled to perfection, his clean-shaven jaw highlighting the kind of bone structure that belonged on magazine covers.

But it was his eyes that had always undone me. Those cold, grey depths that seemed to see everything and find it all lacking. Right now, they scanned the room with a bored expression.

In my previous life, this sight used to make my heart race. I used to think he was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, and I'd have done anything to make those cold eyes soften for me. Just once.

Now, looking at him, all I saw was the man who'd left me to die. The man who'd stood at an altar, glowing just like this, while a kidnapper's hands tightened around my throat. The man who'd called me dirty and hung up without a second thought.

Hatred surged through me. My fingers tightened around the ring until the diamond cut into my palm drawing blood.

I walked straight toward him.

The crowd parted instinctively, whether out of respect for Adrian or because I looked like a drowned ghost marching through a sea of silk, but I didn't care. Conversations quieted as I approached. I could feel every eye in the room, hear every whisper, and I ignored them all.

Adrian noticed me when I was ten steps away. He raised his eyes slowly, his dark pupils flat and unreadable. His gaze slid down my soaking dress, my ruined hair, the pool water still dripping from my hem onto the polished floor.

A flicker of mocking amusement crossed his face.

He took a slow sip of his whiskey before speaking.

“Evelyn,” he said flatly. “What? Here to claim your prize?”

The words were designed to reduce me to a grateful, simpering fool. In my previous life, I would have smiled through the humiliation. I would have slipped the ring onto my finger and deceived myself that this was his twisted way of showing affection.

But I hadn’t come to beg for his attention.

I’d come to end this.

Without breaking eye contact, I pulled the engagement ring off my finger. Then I opened my other hand and revealed his ring — the very one he’d tossed into the pool to humiliate me. The one I’d risked my life to retrieve.

I held both rings up, high enough for every guest in the room to see.

Satisfaction flickered across Adrian’s face. He thought I was here to grovel. To present the rings like a dog returning a stick to its master. The entire room held its breath.

And with every ounce of strength I had, I threw both rings at his chest.